


Smoke Break

by klutzysurgeon



Category: One Piece
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, First Meetings, Gen, Smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-09
Updated: 2017-07-09
Packaged: 2018-11-30 00:15:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11452032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/klutzysurgeon/pseuds/klutzysurgeon
Summary: Getting in trouble isn't so bad if you get to make a new friend along the way.For Corazon Week 2017, Day 1: Fire / Warmth





	Smoke Break

Today just isn’t his day.

Oh, Rocinante is used to having clumsy days. He’s been forced to clean up after himself more times than he can count, and caused a mess for others at least half as often. He knows where every janitor supply closet is by heart, knows all the nurses in the clinic by name, and most of the officers have stopped wasting their breath yelling at him once they realized he’s a good soldier and no, he’s really _not_ doing it on purpose.

You’d think that would have been obvious the fourth or fifth time he’d caught himself on fire, but, well.

Even so, this qualifies as an especially bad day. Knocking over the supply cabinet wasn’t surprising, and though tiresome, having the shelves somehow come out was predictable too. It was just his luck that they happened to be made of _glass._  And when he’d finished sweeping up all the pieces…

It would have been fine if he’d just tripped.

But tripping and ending up flinging the glass shards at the Commander on base… He winces, standing outside the door and listening to the Commander shouting at Sengoku over the transponder snail as they try to work out a punishment for him. He knows Sengoku tries to protect him when he can but he’s always insisted on being treated fairly. His clumsiness may not be his fault exactly, but he still has to take responsibility for the trouble it causes.

Even if he’s _really_ not looking forward to it. Rocinante sighs, slouching against the wall and rubbing absently at one of the scars on his arm. It’s somewhat recent and it itches sometimes, scar tissue still forming and trying to heal. He’s so distracted with his own thoughts he doesn’t notice another Marine sweeping the halls, though it’s a little hard _not_ to notice when she stops in front of him, face just inches away when she leans in. “What’s with the pouty face?”

“Wh–!”

Rocinante _intends_ to ask– “what?” or maybe “who are you?” or maybe he might just deny that he’s pouting, but he doesn’t get a chance to say any of that because he jumps back in surprise, smacking his head against the wall and bumping into her when he reflexively jerks forward away from it.

He’s already prepared for the inevitable fall to follow and internally wincing over the fact he’s probably going to fall on her and she’s easily a foot shorter than him, but the woman surprises him by stopping him with just one hand, strong force pushing against his chest keeping him upright. “Woah, didn’t mean to startle you!”

“No, it’s okay, it was my fault,” Rocinante answers out of habit, taking a moment to regain his balance before he gets a proper look at the Marine before him. She’s smiling, vibrant red hair cut in an interesting style with a cigarette between her lips. “We aren’t supposed to smoke in the halls,” he points out automatically and then winces at himself. He can tell by her uniform that they’re the same rank, he’s in no position to be lecturing her.

Surprisingly she just laughs, stepping back to give him some room. “True, but you only get in trouble if you get caught,” she grins. “What about you? Must be in trouble for something if you’re outside the Commander’s office with that kind of pout.”

“I, well,” Rocinante mumbles, rubbing at the back of his neck. Was he really pouting? “Nothing new…”

“It’d be new to me,” she points out, tilting the handle of her broom towards him. “Besides, your story can’t be more boring than sweeping.”

“You’ve been assigned to sweep these halls?”

“Yep. There was some other guy doing it, but the Commander just threw this broom at me and told me I’m doing it now since at least I “won’t break half the hallway” or something.”

Rocinante visibly winces and she pauses, looking up at him from under the brim of her hat. “Hey now, wait a minute… Oh, man. You’re the reason the Commander was so pissed, aren’t you?”

Wordlessly he nods, looking thoroughly ashamed. “Bumped into another cabinet… woulda been fine, but they had to make the shelves out of _glass_ and then I tripped and…”

The woman plucks the cigarette from her mouth to bite her lips, clearly trying to keep from laughing. “So _you’re_ the klutz I always hear about!”

“Probably,” Rocinante mumbles. He didn’t know he had a reputation but he’s hardly surprised by it– he knows he's caused a fair amount of trouble for other recruits on the base before. “Sorry you had to take over my job…”

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” she waves off easily. “I would’ve been stuck on some other job anyway. That definitely explains the pout…” She winces sympathetically, reaching up to pat him on the shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll be alright. The Commander is more bark than bite, anyway.”

“Ahh, I hope so...” Rocinante gives a nervous chuckle, gaze flickering to the door. It’s gone oddly quiet so he assumes they’ve finished their conversation, punishment decided on.

“I _know_ so,” she laughs. “I’ve been in that office every week since I got here, I think.”

“Wha– Why?”

“Ah, dumb shit. Like this,” the girl waves the cigarette pointedly, “Or beating up a coupla dumb newbies who complained about a woman being a higher rank than them. Tried to tell me I should be serving _them._  Apparently you’re just supposed to “report discrimination to the nearest available officer”... as if,” she snorts.

Rocinante can’t help but gape at her, distress evident in his tone. “Someone said that to you? That’s _awful.”_

“Mm, but their faces looked pretty awful by the time I finished with’em, so I think we’re even.”

“You must be really strong,” he muses aloud. She eyes him contemplatively, arms crossed over her chest.

“Don’t tell me you think a girl can’t be strong?”

“N-no, no!” Rocinante sputters, holding his hands up peaceably. “I really do think you’re strong! I felt it when you kept me from falling… I mean, I know I’m not exactly light, and you shoved me back with just one hand…”

The woman relaxes, giving an easy shrug. His eyes are drawn to the way she takes a puff of her cigarette, smoke unfurling in wisps. “Nah, you’re not that heavy, you’re just big. I mean, I’m five foot four and you’re still probably a foot taller than me, not to mention those broad shoulders.”

“I’m six eight,” Rocinante mumbles. He doesn’t bother to mention that he’s still probably growing, too, only fifteen despite how often he’s mistaken for an adult. The redhead whistles, eyeing him up again for an entirely different reason this time.

“You grow much taller and we might have to remodel the doorways for ya,” she laughs, leaning her broom against the wall beside him to fish for something in her pocket. She pulls out a slightly crushed pack of cigarettes and plucks one out, offering it to him. “You smoke too, right? Look like you want one.”

“...Am I that obvious?” Rocinante sheepishly grins, taking the offered cigarette and retrieving his lighter from his pocket. He manages to get it lit without much trouble, gratefully inhaling the rush of nicotine and smoke. “Thank you.”

“There we go!” she praises, grinning widely at him. “I thought so, a smile fits you much better than a pout. You should smile more, you know?”

Rocinante can feel his cheeks heating up at the casual comment, subconsciously holding the cigarette between his fingers and covering his mouth. He doesn’t have a chance to stammer anything before the door opens and his eyes go wide– he’d honestly forgotten all about the Commander for just a moment.

And now he’s smoking in the hallway. Oh no.

“Hey, Commander!”

The redhead tips a two-fingered salute off her hat, grinning mischievously as she draws attention with her cigarette plainly visible in her mouth. “Bye, Commander!”

“You again…!”

And with that, she takes off down the hallway, pausing at the end to wave back. “Oh, and my name’s Bellemere! See ya around!”

Rocinante realizes what she’s done the moment the Commander marches after her, completely ignoring him. Silly girl, she didn’t have to try and save him...

For once, he manages to finish an entire cigarette without catching himself or anything else on fire, a smile on his face as he puts it out.

“Bellemere, huh?”

He’ll have to pay her back sometime.

**Author's Note:**

> Hiiiiiiii this is technically a very loose interpretation of the [prompt](https://corazon-week.tumblr.com/prompts) and shorter than I'd like but it's my first time writing corabelle hope you enjoyed! (now I have to scurry and go write day two's fic, which is gonna feature sengoku and _pain_.)


End file.
